In his account of the war in Lazica in 556, [222]
Agathias [223] mentions among the Byzantine officers
of barbarian origin a Hun by the name of ;
he was lochagos, commander of a lochos, a regiment. Agathias
also mentions the name and the nationality of Elmingeiros' superior: He
was the taxiarchos Dabragezas of the people of the Antes. In order
to overcome the difficulties of transmitting orders, a formidable task
in mercenary armies of as many different nationalities as the armies of
Justinian and his successors, barbarians of the same regions were kept
together in the same units. Dabragezas [224] must have
come from those Antes who, according to Procopius, together with Huns and
Sclaveni, "lived across the Danube or not far from it." [225]
Elmingeiros was probably from the same region. The battle in which he distinguished
himself took place in the spring of 556.

In the summer of the same year Justin, commander of the army in Phasis,
sent one of the taxiarchoi, a Hun by the name of ,
with

402

two thousand horsemen to occupy the fortress Rhodopolis. [226]
In the index of his edition of Agathias, Niebuhr listed Elminzur with the
note,
fortasse idem cum praecedente, i.e., Elmingeiro." [227]
Stein identified Elmingeir and Elminzur. [228] It would
be a strange coincidence indeed if in the same army and in the same months,
there had been two Hun officers bearing names as similar as Elmingeir and
Elminzur.

It is not necessary to know the exact foreign sounds represented by
the Greek letters, [229] nor what the names mean, to
recognize that the first is compounded of elmin and geir,
the second of elmin and zur. If Elmingeir and Elminzur were
actually two names of the same man, the change from -geir to -zur
could correspond to his promotion from lochagos to taxiarchos,
or, to use the Latin terms, from tribunus to dux. [230]
This would support our assumption that čur
means "captain, leader."

There are three more Hunnish names ending in -zur:

1. After the collapse of Attila's kingdom, his kinsmen Emnetzur and
Ultzindur occupied Oescus, Utum, and Almus on the right bank of the Danube.
[231]
On the analogy with Elminzur, Emnetzur must be Emne-tzur.

2. Another name of this type is Ultzinzures, .
[232]
Together with other Hunnic tribes they followed Dengizich in the second
war with the Goths.

3. Priscus' , , ,
and appear
in Jordanes as Alpidzuri, Alcildzuri, Itimari, Tuncarsi, and Boisci. [233]
The explanation of the difference between Priscus and Jordanes was found
by Krasheninnikov:
[234] The archetype of the Jordanes
manuscripts had
alpidzuros, with the emendation
alcildzuros
written over it, which leads to *alpildzuros. Only this form is
compatible with the name in Priscus which, therefore, must be emended to
read > .

In the Chinese annals, the titles of tribal leaders are sometimes used
for the tribes themselves. In Han times the Chinese spoke of the Sai wang,

403

the "Saka kings," under the T'ang of the
Hu-lu-wu chüeh, She-she-t'i tun, and Shu-ni-shi ch'u-pan. [235] This was not a
misunderstanding on the part of the Chinese, as some scholars thought.
[236]
To the Tibetans the kingdom of the second dynasty of the northern Turks
was known as Bug-čor = Mo ch'o. [237]
Did they make the same mistake as the Chinese? Should we assume that Constantine
Porphyrogenitus was also misinformed when he spoke of the *küärčičur?
And before him Priscus about the *alpildzuri, or, as we now may
say, the *alpilčur? This is
most unlikely. Even today Kirghiz tribes, subtribes, and clans exist which
call themselves čoro
and x-čoro: Qara-coro
(tribe), Čoro,
Zol-čoro (subtribes), Boro-čoro,
Ono-čoro (clans). The Kazakh have
the clans Zhan-čura, Bai-čura,
and Qara-čura. [238]

In an epitaph from Uibat in Tuva the deceased glories that he exerted
himself for the people ilčur.
[239]
Whatever the origin of čur
may be, in the inscription from Uibat ilčur
is as Turkish as il qan and il baši. Hunnish *Alpilčur
cannot be anything else but alp-il-čur,
"hero-people-čur." [240]

The thesis that the Huns spoke a Turkish language has a long history
behind it. Its earlier phase is no longer of interest. The later is still
with us. Taking the identity of the Huns and the Hsiung-nu for granted,
some scholars have no doubt and need no proof that the Huns spoke the same
language as the "eastern" Huns, which they take to be Turkish. By the same
reasoning the Norman conquerors of England should have spoken Old Norse.

That the Huns included Turkish-speaking tribes can be regarded as established
only if a number of personal and tribal names of the Huns are undoubtedly
as Turkish as orfèvre is French, goldsmith English,
and Goldschmied German. One such name is *alp-il-čur.

The formal analysis of Turkish-sounding Hunnic names requires utmost
caution. If English were as unknown as the language of the Huns, one could
conjecture that fe- in female is a prefix and -dict in maledict
a suffix to the root male.

-gir, like čur,
occurs in both a Hunnic personal name (Elmingir) and the name of a tribe
of the Pontic Huns, named twice in Jordanes, Getica 37. In the first
passage, page 6311, all codices, except the inferior ones of
the secundus ordo, have altziagiri or altziagri. In
the next line, page

Mommsen put Altziagiri in both passages in his text. Closs in
his edition of the Getica, page 29, preferred Ultziagiri.
He was right, in my opinion. In the second passage the name began with
u.
Three codices still have it; au obviously was u with superscribed
a;
the forms in H and Y were adapted to altziagiri in the first passage.
We have, thus, altziagiri and ultziagiri. Although Altziagiri
has no parallel in Hun tribal names, Ultziagiri can be compared
with Ultzinzures, .
When we think of the personal name Uldin, and in particular of Elming(e)ir
and Elminzur, the conclusion that
is but a slightly blundered ,
*Ultingir, seems inescapable.
Gir, like čur,
must be a rank or title. It seems to occur in ,
a Bulgarian genos, [241] and Yazghyr and Ürägir, two Oghuz
tribes named by Kashghari.
[242]

Five Hun names end in ic : , , , ,
and . Standard
pronunciation treated c as aspirant in Byzantine
Greek until the ninth century. [243] In the Greek transcription
of Germanic names c corresponds to c
in Latin forms. The same is true for Hunnic names.
and appear
in Latin sources as Denzic and Dintzic. Priscus wrote ,
Jordanes Hernac. There is no evidence that in fifth-century Greek transcription
of foreign names c can reflect g or g.
[244]
Therefore, etymologies based on the equation ic
= ig, ig or ac
= ag, ag are inadmissible.

The name of an Utigur prince about 550-560 occurs in two forms. Agathias
and Menander call him ;
in Procopius his name is .
[245]
Sandilchos is Sandilk, Sandil-k.

is [246]
the name of a Hun leader in 395. It could be Kurs-ik or Kur-sik. ,
the name of a barbarian officer in the Byzantine army about 578, [247]
seems to indicate that Kursik is Kurs-ik.

405

was the qaghan
of the western Turks about 580, [248] Tuldila a Hun
leader in Majorian's army in 458. [249] -ila
is evidently the same as -ila in Attila and Rugila, namely the Germanic
diminutive suffix. It corresponds to the Turkish diminutive suffix +°q, +°k. [250] *Tuldiq would be in Turkish what
Tuldila is in Germanic: "little Tuld." This *tuld can be compared
with Ultinzur, Uldin, and Uldach, names which seem
to be compounded of uld or ult and in/ach = *ïn/aq.

To maintain that all Hun and Turkish names ending in ic
are diminutives would probably be wrong, but some of them apparently are.
Take, for instance, .
[251]
Basich and Kursich are named together. If Kursich is Kurs-ich, *Kurs-iq,
then Basich is probably Bas-ich, *Bas-iq, which can hardly be anything
else but bašiq, "little captain."

It is almost generally agreed that
contains Turkish däŋiz.
Dengizich cannot be Dengir-siq [252] because if it
were, Priscus would have written ,
[253]
nor can it be Dengis-sig (see above).
is a perfectly normal transcription of *däŋiz-iq,
"little lake."

Another formant in Hun names is +l.
the name of a barbarian exarch,
[254] stands in the
same relation to [255]
as to .
It evidently is Apsik-al.

The number of Hun names which are certainly or most probably Turkish
is small. But in view of the wild speculations and irresponsible etymologies
still being expounded, to lay a narrow but firm basis for studying all
the names seems preferable to dreamily wandering through dictionaries.
Some of the names in the following list have been etymologized before;
instead of repeating the arguments brought forward, in particular the many
parallels, I refer to Moravcsik, BT 2, where the literature is carefully
listed.

Leader of Hun auxiliaries in the Byzantine army about 530. [256]
Altï, "six." In his study of names formed by numerals, Rásonyi (1961, 55-58)
listed the Kazakh patronymic Altyev and a large number of personal and clan
names having altï as the first element: Altybai,
Altyortak, Altyate, and so forth. Compare also Alty bars (Sauvaget 38).

406

A Hun of noble birth, about 433. [257] The name
could be compared with Iranian .
[258]
In an Iranian dialect spoken in South Russia the change from -rt-
to -t- can be followed in the inscriptions: [259]
cannot be separated from .
[260]
Some names beginning with
ata are Iranian, for example,
and [261]
(*maza, "greatness") [262] or [263].
There exist dozens of Iranian names ending in
kam, "wish," from [264]
to Xudkām and Šadkām.
[265]
However, Eskam, another name ending in kam, has no similarity to any
Iranian name and a most plausible Turkish etymology. Therefore, I accept
Vámbery's etymology: ata, "father," and
qam, "shaman."
[266]
Similar Turkish names, for example, Atabag, are
[267]
fairly common. [268]

Hun leader about 395. Basich is probably Bašīq.

Lord of many villages, [269]Berik, "strong."
[270]
The king under whom the Goths are said to have left Scandinavia had a similar
name: Berig, Berg, Berigh, Berich, Berice, Berige; see Getica 2594.
Although the Goths took over Hunnic names, they certainly did not rename
one of their half-mythical rulers. Berig is probably *Bairika,
the hypocoristic form of a name beginning with Bere-, like Beremod.
[271]

407

A son of Attila. *Däŋiziq,
"little lake." [272] Dengizich, as Priscus heard the
name pronounced at Attila's court, [273] is the only
authentic form. Denzic, [274] Dintzic, [275]
apparently renders the Germanic pronunciation *Denitsik, with the
frequent dropping of g. ,
is assimilated to names like .
[276]

The fact that täŋiz,
däŋiz
is not attested before the eleventh century is of little importance. [277]
It occurs in all Turkish languages; besides, there is no language known
from which the Turks could have borrowed the word. Mongol Tängiz
is a Turkish loanword.

'Ellac

Attila's oldest son. [278] The scribes who made
the excerpts from Priscus left the name out. It should be in EL
13036 and 18328. Jordanes' Ellac presupposes
in Priscus; compare
= Hernac. Ellac seems to be älik (ilik), "ruler, king."
[279]
To be sure, in Priscus' transcriptions of Germanic personal and Latin place
names alpha always renders a, never i.
[280]
But a in the second syllable occurs also in Armenian, alphilaq
> alp ilig. [281] Apparently Ellac was not the
name but the title of the prince who was governor of the Acatziri. Latin
and Greek authors often mistook foreign titles for names. [282]

*Elmingir. Tunguz elmin, "young horse," also the name
of a Manchu tribe, [283] is probably a coincidental
homophone; it would be the only Tun-

408

gus word in the language of the Huns. El seems to be el, al,
il,[284] "realm"; -min- can be compared
with -min in Bumin, Chinese T'u-men and Ch'i-men. [285]

*Elminčur, see p. 401.

Emnetzur

*Emnečur, see p. 402.

Priscus mentions Attila's wife, Ellac's mother, in two passages. In
the first, EL 13922, all codices have ;
in the second,
EL 1467, M and P have
B and E ,
C has . The
copyists repeatedly dropped n at the end of
personal names, but they never added it where it did not belong. [286]
The name ended in -an. To choose between
and would
be impossible were it not for the Germanic names of Attila's wife: Herche,
Helche, Hrekja, and Erka. [287] They prove that Priscus
wrote . Bang's
etymology is convincing:
is *arï(g)-qan, "the
pure princess." [288]Aruvkhan (aruv,
"pure") is a Qaraqalpak girl's name. [289, 290]

Eskam's daughter was one of Attila's many wives. [291]
Eskam is most probably *as qam, as, "friend, companion",
and qam, "shaman." [292] The

409

non-Tokharain name Yarkam in a Tokharian document [293]
might be a hybrid name with the same meaning (Persian yar, "friend").

A Sabir, about 555. [296] When one thinks of the
many Turkish names with qut, "majesty," it seams very likely that
the name was *qut-il-či or
*qut-elči.

Mundzuc

The name of Attila's father occurs as
in Priscus, Mundzizcoabl in Jordanes, and gen
in Theophanes. [297] The last one is so corrupt that
it can be disregarded. [298] Cassiodorus undoubtedly
wrote *Mundiucus, which Jordanes changed to Mundzucus as he changed
Scandia to Scandza [299] and Burgundiones to Burgunzones.
[300]
In vulgar Latin
d
before i and e, followed by a vowel,
became dz.
[301] Jordanes pronounced Mundiucus
as Mundzucus, and consequently wrote
Mundzucus. But this does not
necessarily prove that the Hunnic name was *Mundiuk. If Priscus should
have heard a Pannonian Roman or a Latin-speaking Goth say "Mundzuk," he
still could have written
on the assumption that his informant mispronounced the name in the same
way he said dzaconus for diaconus. [302]

To these objections of the eminent Hungarian scholar one could perhaps
answer that to a Greek, in whose language
and č did not occur, the two
must have sounded very much alike. More important is the known fact that
b
interchanges with m within a number of Turkish languages:
bän
in Osmanli in the eastern and man in the western Crimea, [308]mindi
and bindi in Nogai;
börü in the southern and mörü
in the northern group of Altai Turkish. [309] One cannot
even say that the Oghuz languages have the initial b, for although
Osmanli, its Rumelian dialects, and Azerbaijan Turkish have it, the East
Anatolian dialects have m. [310] Except the
Auslaut,
in the Osmanli dialect of Kars our word has the allegedly impossible form
munuc.
[311]

"Flag" as title or rank of the flagbearer occurs in many languages.
Ensign,
for instance, is both the insignium and the one who bears it: "hee
is call's aunchient Pistoll," Henry V (aunchient, corrupt
for ensign). It

411

is the same in the East. Tug, [312]
"standard with a horse or yak tail," occurs by itself or with a suffix
in early Turkish and Uyghur names: TugAšuq,
Tuglug,
"he who was the tug," Tugič,
"Tug bearer." [313]Munuq
probably means the same. Qïzïl Mončuq,
the name of a Mongol commander in Afghanistan about 1223 [314]
means "Red Flag" rather than "Red Pearl."

In the eighth century the leaders of the ten
arrows (tribes) of the Türgäš bore the standards. [315] The cauda
equi was the signum militare of the proto-Bulgars. [316]
It may have been that of the Huns, too.

The Germanic etymology of Mundzucus [317] is to
be rejected. It is not only phonetically unsound. About 370, when Mundzucus
was born, no Hun could have been given a Germanic name. [318]

412

,

Ruler of the Utigur, about 555. [319] Sandil cannot
be separated from the Mamluk name Sandal, "boat." [320]

Commander of Hun auxiliaries in the Byzantine army, 491 A.D. [321]
Zolbon is "the star of the shepherd," the planet Venus, colban,
colbon, solbon, and so forth. [322]Colpan
is a Mamluk name.
[323]

244. Of the five cases adduced
by Moravcsik, BT 2, 36, four are of the tenth century and later.
The spelling
for Čagatai
in Laonicus Chalcocondyles, who flourished about 1485, has no bearing on
the phonetic value of g in the writings of authors
who lived a millennium before him.

277. It would be of interest
to know at what time the Ossetes borrowed dengiz (Abaev 1958, 362) from
the Turks. Incidentally, Tängiz, the youngest of the six sons of Oguz Qagan, is
not the "oceanic" prince but Prince Ocean; his brothers are Sun, Moon,
Star, Sky, and Mountain (W. Bang and G. Rachmati, SB Berlin 1932, 689,
691, 703; Abul Ghazi, Rodoslovnaia Turkmen, trans, by Kononov 1958
48, 50-52).

290. W. Tomaschek (SB Wien
117, 1889, 65) surmised in Kreka the ethnic name Qyrqyz; he had
to work with the Bonn edition which had only Kreka. Why Haussig
(1954, 361) still takes Kreka for the correct form is hard to understand;
he maintains that the name is Gothic and means "the Greek woman." P. Poucha
(CAJ 1, 1955, 291) takes Kreka or Hreka (sic) for Mongol gargai,
"wife;" he repeats this etymology in 1956, 37, n. 39.

291. Priscus, EL 1312;
Moravcsik, BT 2, 126.

292. Vámbéry 1882,
43.

293. W. Krause 1954, 327.

294. Agathias III, 17, ed. Bonn,
1775.

295. Moravcsik, BT
2, 138, following Németh and Rásonyi.

296. Agathias III, 17, ed. Bonn,
177; Moravcsik, BT 2, 170.

297. Moravcsik, BT 2,
194.

298. Codex B has .
Although it is better than the codices which have
und (C. de
Boor, EL II, 516), it is still not good. The name was distorted
at an early time; Anastasius in his Latin version left it out (C. de Boor,
EL
II, 10724); Nicephorus Callistus (PG 146,1269c) has the
monstrous .
Note that in the same passage and in all codices occurs ,
corrupt for .

Mundo (Moravcsik, BT 2, 194), the name of a Gepid
of Attilanic descent (Getica 311), could be a variant of Theophanes'
Mundios,
provided that such a name existed. It has also been connected with Mundzucus;
to the references in Moravcsik, BT 2, 194, add Pritsak 1955, 66.
But Mundo's father
(Theophanes 21822), has a name with a Germanic ring (Diculescu 1922,
58) and Mundo itself may be Germanic; cf. Munderichus and Mundila (Schönfeld
1911, 169); for -o, see Schönfeld 1911, 52.
Non
liquet.

312. Gabain (1955, 23) is inclined
to derive Chinese tu
< duok, "standard with a yak tail or pheasant feathers," listed
in the Erh ya, from Turkish tug.
It seems to me that tug is rather a Chinese
loanword. Tu < duok < d'ok or tao <
d'âu
< d'og (GS 1016) is undoubtedly the same as tao
< d'âu < d'ôg, "staff with feathers" (GS
1090z) and yu
< iâu < diôg, "pendants of a banner" (GS
1080a, yu
; ancient diôg, "pennon" (GS 1080f), words which occur
in the Book of Odes and the Tso-chuan, centuries before the
first appearance of the Hsiung-nu, from whose allegedly Turkish language
the Chinese are supposed to have borrowed duok.

316.Responsa Nicolai, Carm.
XXXIII, p. 580. For the Kirghiz on the upper Yenisei, see Appelgren-Kivalo
1931, n. 93 (their flags are mentioned in T'ang shu, ch. 217b); for the
Kurdykan, Okladnikov and Zaporozhskaia 1959, 121, 57; on the jug from Nagy Szen
Miklos, see A. Alföldi, Cahiers archéologiques
1950, 132-133. On the flag of the Seljuk, see V. A. Gordlevskiĭ,
Izbrannye
sochineniia 1, 1960, 179; on Yak tail banners of Mongols in the time
of Genghiz Khan, see Poucha 1956, 137-139.

317. Schönfeld 1911,
278.

318. This has been rightly stressed
by G. Schramm 1960, 129-155. As an entirely tentative surmise, Schramm
would derive Gundiok, the name of a Burgundian king, from Mundiuch, as
he reconstructs the name of the prince. To judge the linguistic side of
this derivation must be left to Germanic scholars. What we know about the
relations of the Burgundians with the Huns in the 420's and 430's is not
in its favor.